The Rev. Frank Logue
King of Peace Episcopal Church
Kingsland, Georgia
March 11, 2001

Citizen Paul
Philippians 3:17-4:1

Victoria, Griffin, and I have traveled quite a lot over the years. And we have found that our travels always change how we see the world. Traveling continually challenges and expands our worldview.

Fifteen years ago, Victoria and I were in Kathmandu, Nepal on our honeymoon. We spent two months in and around the capital of the small country that sits nestled in the Himalayan Mountains, at the rooftop of the world. Located halfway around the world, the trip to get there took a little over two days by plane. We flew from Atlanta to Seattle, then Tokyo, on to Bangkok in Thailand for the night and then the next day we flew in to Nepal. Every stop along the way seemed increasingly foreign. In Tokyo, where we waited in the terminal while they cleaned and refueled the plane, we watched TV. The language was indecipherable to us. I remember watching a show with a bunch of naked kindergarten age kids all bathing each other. I felt a very long way from home.

Then in Thailand, we went out for a taxi and were immediately drenched with sweat. The air was so hot and thick, it was oppressive, like someone threw a hot, wet blanket on you. The sights, the sounds, the smells were all foreign. Finally we arrived in Kathmandu. We knew no one in the country. We had only arranged two nights stay in a motel that was out of our price range for the two months stay. So we faced the task of scouting the city for a better place. Many of the signs were in Sanskrit. And once again, we were bombarded with sights, sounds, and smells that were so foreign to us.

We settled in for two, sometimes quite long, months. I would not trade anything for the amazing experiences of those two months. When it was time to leave, we were ready, anxious, to go home after two months in a third world country. However, the trip home brought its own surprises. When we arrived in Bangkok, it didn’t seem quite so exotic as it had on our first stop there. In fact, Bangkok felt something like home. Then we were back in Tokyo, quite accustomed now to seeing signs in a foreign script and hearing people speak in a language we could understand only a little of. Then on to Seattle and finally Atlanta, which now seemed foreign to us. The sights, sounds, and lack of smell was all so unfamiliar. It took us a number of weeks to get reacquainted to life in America.

We had changed and we remained changed by the experience. Now 15 years after that trip, I can look back and see that it changed my view of the world. I gained a new perspective during my stay in Nepal that has stuck with me.

The Apostle Paul writes this morning about looking at the world from a different perspective. Paul wrote to the Christians in the Roman colony of Philippi concerning people who lived as enemies of Jesus. Paul said, “Their end is destruction; their God is the belly; and their glory is their shame; their minds are on earthly things.”

These are people who lived for whatever they desired at the moment and who took pride in things of which they should have been ashamed. Paul went on to write, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul told the Christians in Philippi that they should have a different perspective from those who were not yet Christians. They should not see everything from a merely earthly perspective, but from a heavenly one. Paul used a very important image to describe this perspective. He said that we are citizens of heaven. This was not a future promise for Paul. Being citizens of heaven was a present reality. We have already been accepted into heaven and while we are earth we should live like citizens of heaven, rather than only concerning ourselves with earthly things.

Citizenship meant a lot to Paul. Paul carried on his person at all times papers that proved that he was a Roman citizen. They were the first century equivalent of a passport. And for Paul they even worked at times as a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card. Many people lived within the Roman Empire, but were not citizens. As a citizen of the Empire, Paul had rights not available to non-citizens. These included the right to appeal after a trial and the right to choose either a local or Roman trial. Being a Roman citizen also meant that Paul was exempt from imperial duties, such as military service. Paul also had responsibilities as a Roman citizen and his letters mention two specific taxes paid by Roman citizens, which shows that he considered these responsibilities part of his own duty.

The book of Acts describes how Paul’s Roman citizenship shaped his life and ministry. Acts chapter 22, describes a visit Paul made to Jerusalem. He preached to a crowd there who were angered by his words. A riot was near breaking out when the Roman Tribune halted it and had Paul bound and brought to the barracks. The Book of Acts describes what happened next,

But when they had tied him up with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who is uncondemned?” When the centurion heard that, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen.” The tribune came and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” The tribune answered, “It cost me a large sum of money to get my citizenship.” Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.” Immediately those who were about to examine him drew back from him; and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.

There are several similar stories recorded in the Bible that show that much of what Paul accomplished in ministry was made possible because of his Roman citizenship. Paul knew that the Philippians would understand what it meant to be a citizen of Rome. Philippi was an important colony that was granted status as a “little Rome.” All the people born in Philippi were given status as Roman citizens by birth. Nevertheless, Paul told the Philippians that they were citizens of an even greater kingdom. Their real citizenship was in heaven, and being citizens of heaven matters more than being a Roman.

Paul told the Philippians, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul’s use of the word Savior here is also interesting. Paul almost never used the word Savior to describe Jesus. This was probably because the Roman Imperial cult described the Emperor as the Savior. But here the use is very appropriate for Paul is telling the Philippians that the citizenship that matters is being a citizen of heaven and the one who will save you is Jesus, not the Emperor.

Paul could produce papers to show that he was a Roman citizen. What about us? We have a birth certificate, a drivers license, or perhaps a passport to show that we too are citizens of a great nation. But we also have certificates that show that we are citizens of heaven. Gil White brought two time worn pieces of paper to the Bible Study this past Wednesday. They were the baptism certificate he received in 1930 and the confirmation certificate that he received in 1942. Gil proudly showed off these artifacts, perhaps not unlike the way Paul produced proof of Roman citizenship to get out of being flogged in Jerusalem.

Don’t get me wrong. A person can come to saving faith in Jesus Christ and be fully redeemed by God without being baptized. But baptism still matters. Baptism is the public profession of faith, yours or for children, that of your parents. Confirmation is a time for adults to confirm this baptismal covenant. So if you don’t try to push the analogy so far as to leave unbaptized believers out, then those certificates are something like citizenship papers for heaven.

However, our citizenship in heaven also comes with responsibilities. For Paul, this citizenship was to result in some changes in worldview and changes in behavior. Philippians 1:27 is translated by the NRSV Bible as “Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” But a closer look at the Greek shows that Paul was using a verb that means “to citizen.” There is no such verb in English. A rougher translation that gets Paul’s idea across is, “One thing, citizen yourselves in a way worthy of the good news of the Messiah.” Paul told the Philippians to go around acting like citizens of heaven. No less is expected of us. We too are to conduct our lives in a way that befits citizens of heaven. That doesn’t mean acting holier than other people. We don’t have to act self-righteous. Jesus often complained about people who did that. We are to act as children of God.

Someone told me recently that he or she did not want to get baptized as baptism came with too many strings attached. My first thought was, “No it doesn’t.” But on reflection, I realized that baptism should come with some strings attached and it does. These strings are spelled out in the baptismal covenant. Look with me at the Book of Common Prayer and I’ll show you the not too fine print. The Baptismal Covenant is on pages 304-305. First, those who are being baptized tell their beliefs about the Trinity using the words of that ancient baptismal formula, the Apostle’s Creed. Then there are five questions and answers that spell out how we can act like citizens of heaven. To each question, the answer is “I will with God’s help.” The questions are:

Will you continue in the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers?

Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?

Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

And

Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

Those are the strings attached. Those five questions set the target for how we can act like citizens of heaven. Each week we gather here in worship to visit that heavenly country, to hear heaven’s stories and share in its fellowship. But on return to our day to day life, we should find ourselves changed over time. King of Peace’s worship, Bible studies, prayer groups, and classes are meaningless if they have no impact on our lives. We should leave here, not unlike Victoria and I left Kathmandu 15 years ago. OK, not so happy to leave. But changed in some small way, perhaps more than we know, by this time set apart. Then when we go back to the day to day, we should be a tiny bit closer to persevering in resisting evil, proclaiming the gospel by word and example and seeking and serving Christ in all persons. That is how a citizen of heaven acts.

Amen.